Sam Short smashes 800m record at Australian Swim Trials
The Australian Swim Trials proved to be a smashing success for Sam Short after he won three titles and broke his own Australian and Commonwealth record. But will he take home a fourth gold?
READING LEVEL: GREEN
Aussie swimmer Sam Short has stolen the show at the Australian Swim Trials on Wednesday night with a record-breaking swim that took attention away from crowd favourite Cam McEvoy.
Short smashed the Australian and Commonwealth record in the 800m freestyle final, creating history with a time of 7:36.73. The swim was quite an achievement for the 22-year-old as he continued his brilliant week in the pool.
Short was already the fastest Australian ever over the distance, and for the first 300 metres of the final, he looked as though he could be on track to break Zhang Lin’s longstanding world record time of 7:32.12, set way back in 2009.
Short led the rest of the field by half the length of the pool (25m) by the halfway mark, but started to fade over the final 200m to miss the world record mark.
However, it was still the most dominant swim of this year’s trials, finishing more than 10 seconds ahead of second place, Benji Goedemans in 7.47.62.
Short’s time was also the third-fastest in history over the distance, taking over a second off his previous best.
In doing so, he also registered the fastest 800m time without a supersuit*.
The supersuits were banned by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) in 2010 to restore fair competition after swimmers wearing them broke dozens of world records at the Beijing Olympics.
Short said he considered the 800m world record in the supersuit to be the “most untouchable*” record. He added that he now felt good about holding the fastest time ever without the supersuit.
“That 7:32, I would say, is arguably the most untouchable (world record), with the 1:42 (in the 200m freestyle) from Biedermann,” Short said.
“And how I swam it tonight, I think, is the only way to get even close to that, you know?
“But I was definitely aiming for that textile* world record for a long time. After running that 7:37 when I was 19, that was a massive drop. I knew I had the potential to get under that.
“I’m keen to see the top 10 all-time list because it’s pretty cool to see my name among those lists of legends.”
The 800m gold was Short’s third title at the trials after he also won the 200m and 400m finals.
He could leave the trials with as many as four golds if he takes home the title in the 1500m on Friday.
CAM MCEVOY CLAIMS ANOTHER AUSSIE TITLE
Meanwhile, Cam McEvoy took yet another Australian title, winning Wednesday night’s 50m freestyle final, however, he said he had been hoping to go “a little bit faster”.
McEvoy (21.32) finished just under half a second outside of the world record mark he set at this year’s China Open (20.88) but never looked in doubt in the men’s final.
Jamie Jack, brother of Olympian Shayna Jack, finished second in 21.52, qualifying for his first Australian team, with Flynn Southam (21.72) in third.
“Not too bad. I wanted a little faster,” McEvoy said, speaking after the race.
“Commonwealth Games is the plan for peaking.
“(Australia’s depth) is crazy. It’s a pretty exciting landscape. I think by Brisbane our 50s are going to be a powerhouse.”
POLL
GLOSSARY
- supersuit: special non-textile suits that were designed for competitive swimmers, made from polyurethane panels and specialised fabrics, that significantly improved the buoyancy and hydrodynamics of swimmers. The suits were used from 2008 until 2010, at which point they were banned by World Aquatics after dozens of world records were broken by swimmers wearing the specialised suits
- untouchable: so good that it’s pretty much impossible to achieve under normal conditions
- textile: normal swimming costume
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QUICK QUIZ
1. What record did Sam Short break?
2. Which other titles did Short also win at the trials?
3. Who is the world record holder for this event?
4. When were supersuits banned?
5. Which final did Cam McEvoy win?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Write the race
Write a detailed description of Short’s record breaking race. Remember to bring the race to life for your readers and capture the drama and excitement of Short’s achievement.
Time: Spend at least 20 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English
2. Extension
“The World Records set by swimmers wearing supersuits should be deleted.” What do you think about this question? Write paragraphs explaining your opinion on this. Use information from the story to help you.
Time: Spend at least 22 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Exercise the body and the mind
Exercise is not only important for the body, but it’s a lot of fun as well. Let’s bring more exercise into classroom learning by creating a VCOP PE game.
You can add a VCOP challenge to pretty much any game, and it’s a great way to encourage the teacher to let the class play more games.
Here is an example to get you started, then you create one of your own.
VCOP dodge ball
The normal rules of dodge ball apply. Two teams throw soft balls at each other and if you get hit, you have to sit out. The team who knocks out all the players on the other team, wins.
VCOP challenge: when you get eliminated, collect a mini-whiteboard and a basic clause from the sidelines. Up-level the sentence (make it better) by adding VCOP. When you show the teacher your completed sentence, you can return to the game.
Play for a set amount of time and the team with the most players left on the court wins.
Support: use the “Up-Level It” card set – players have to complete one card from the set instead of completing all VCOP challenges.
What can you come up with?